Lost Excerpt of the Red Book
by surrethereal
Summary: Chapter 280: Of the Eldar. What happened to the remaining remnants of the Elves on Middleearth.


Lost Excerpts of the Red Book  
  
Chapter 280: Of The Eldar  
  
Accounts Compiled By Lady Lossefalme, better known as Silmaril Blade  
  
The fate of the last remaining Elves is unknown. There is myth of old, however, that on what Men call Starless Night several mortals still yet beheld a rare glimpse of a Shooting Star, and some people of the Middle-earth believe that the Shooting Star was none other than Eärendil himself, and had come to receive the last remnants of the Eldar. However, it remains a mere legend, for many people dismiss the story with scorn and ridicule. An old wives' tale, some say. Fairy-tale nonsense.  
  
Those Elves, only six at this time and place, Elladan, Elrohir, Thranduil, Niphredil, wife to Thranduil's grandson, Elerrìna, as well as Celeborn The Wise, were last seen in the fading trees of the woods between Greenwood and Lòrien. Animals there witnessed a strange gathering of the Elven-people. They seemed to be holding a party of sorts, for the women were eating fine food and drinking fine wine in even finer glass goblets, and smiling with merriment, and the men were sitting in fine chairs set around a great stone table, talking in low whispers amongst themselves. The animals came to the conclusion that the Elves were celebrating, and this being no concern of theirs, and wishing these fair folk privacy, the animals were turning their heads away, when lo! out of nowhere the animals heard a crash, and in the next minute they saw before their disbelieving eyes a strangely familiar tall, kingly young-looking man with keen, ancient eyes, and eyes whose glitter and light were outmatched only by the beautiful white jewel studded in his brow, standing in a fairly large and well-built ship that suddenly appeared out of the blue. The Elves, however, did not apparently find this very strange at all, and indeed they seemed to know him and greeted him with welcome. He let out a plank, and bade them enter his ship, and the Elves all nodded, and their fair elvish faces suddenly became solemn and grave, and they climbed aboard. The man closed his eyes, chanted words of the Elven-tongue that the animals could not understand, and steered, spinning the great wheel his hands were clasped on faster and faster, until all watching became blind, and the next thing that happened, no one was truly sure, but many there at first reckoned the People were putting on a display of fireworks.  
  
With a great burst of great pure white and yet not white light, the animals heard a deafening noise like thunder and dimly made out with their eyes something soaring like a rocket up the Heavens, then heard another deafening sound, and then the light vanquished, and silence again. And when the animals' eyes became blessed again with vision, they would've let out a gasp, if animals could do such a thing. The Elves, the strange man, and the ship were gone. The only things that remained were empty chairs, and unfinished bottles of wine upon a great table.  
  
When the animals' wits recovered, the word of the Elves' disappearance spread like fire in the wild. The Ravens repeated the tale of the Elves' sudden vanishing to the astonished Men of Dale, and, they too, spread the word until some of the Men put the pieces together and established a story, wild and yet with a ring of truth. This is what some Men, especially those of Dale, believe.  
  
The Elves had long been weary of their burden of watching over Middle-earth, and yet could not bear it in their hearts to abandon their land and never see it again. The Elves' steadfast love for their land surpassed any desire to pass on to the Sea. The Elves were resigned to stay on Middle-earth forever. Eru Ilùvatar, taking pity on the Elven-people's plight, came to all the Elves one day in a dream, and offered them a chance to do their duty without having to endure the needless pressure, stress, heartache, and sacrifice. They could set sail to the Heavens, and with a considerable amount of leisure and comfort, establish their lasting abode there and watch over their beloved land and look after not only their fellow Peoples of Middle-earth but their own kindred and kinsmen who have long passed into the Sea. They would be allowed occasional visits to the islands out in the Sea, and, if needed, back to Middle-earth if ever they are needed and called back. The Elves accepted, and People speculate that from that moment Ilùvatar gave them their alternative, the fading elven-light in the Eldar's eyes were rekindled, and they shone as clear and luminous as twinkling stars.  
  
And so Ilùvatar called Eärendil The Mariner and commanded him to set sail towards Middle-earth again, and pick up the Elves. And so he did, and from that day the Elves disappeared, Eärendil the Even-star in the sky shone alone no more. Ever since that day, Men who support this tale noted, six more stars appeared in the diamond-studded sky and together with the star of Eärendil, and formed a new constellation, one that all people of the Ending Days, may they be Dwarves, Hobbits, or Men, still looked upon for hope and guidance. It is even said that the Elves would often at times come down as angels like answers to peoples' prays and when needed give people wisdom and good counsel.  
  
The constellation's name was chosen to be Mellon, meaning 'Friend' in the Quenya tongue. They named the new stars respectively Celeborn, Thranduil, Elerrìna, Niphredil, Elladan, and Elrohir. The constellation took the shape of a head and partially a neck. 


End file.
